Team 96 Italian Job 2017

On the road at 9am with a scheduled 430 miles from Metz to our next Hotel 15 miles south of Milan. A beautiful day, starting with early morning heavy mist clearing to a beautiful warm sunny day. We avoided the motorways for the first hour and drove through a lovely autumn landscape adjacent to the Vosges Mountains down to Strasbourg and Basel, and then across the length of Switzerland towards the St Gothard Tunnel with stunning views across the Swiss Alpine and Lakes Region. David was unaccountably a little within himself approaching Switzerland, and I eventually ascertained that he was worried that new Son-in-Law Tremain had provided me with a bundle of cash and persuaded me to deliver David to the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, in order that David’s prized V8 Daimler could come his way. Fortunately for David, Tremain just hadn’t give me enough cash. Day 2 was a great days driving and the XJS performed beautifully, though it was a great relief to emerge from the 11 mile long St Gothard Tunnel, as the engine was beginning to overheat and the prospect of breaking down in the Tunnel was a nightmare.

Almost 12 hours solid driving today - we had suffered some irritating traffic jams during the day, but the final stretch around Milan was a nightmare. The last 15 miles took almost two and a half hours with recurring traffic jams, and the address details we had been given for our Hotel to the South of Milan were useless, and we spent ages trying to find our bed for the night. Just 200 miles tomorrow to our final destination, Imola,and hopefully our days will now be a little less hectic. Our fundraising is now very close to £3,000.